Going to work every day isn’t always the best. But more than feeling physically exhausted and mentally drained, there are tons of employees that face workplace harassment each day.
It can happen to anyone, and in any workplace, whether in small or big companies.
What is Workplace Harassment?
Unfortunately, many don’t know what the law can consider harassment. Therefore, they cannot report it properly. Harassment can be anything from being cursed at or getting punched. But all of them, regardless of whether it’s verbal or physical, is illegal.
Becoming a victim of workplace harassment can have severe mental and physical effects on you.
It’s widespread for victims to develop some kind of mental health issues, including chronic stress, depression, and anxiety. They may experience panic attacks or sleeping problems. Plus, they can also suffer from high blood pressure and ulcers.
One way to avoid these issues is to train and use workplace harassment training videos to spread awareness about what bullies do and what you can do about it.
There are certain types of workplace harassment.
Discrimination
Perhaps the most common workplace harassment is discriminatory. It typically happens to people of color, women, members of the LGBTQ+ community, and PWDs.
They typically receive insults about their class, or are subject to jokes and degrading comments. People of color are also usually called racial slurs. Bullies also felt disgusted by their presence.
Physical
Physical harassment is also often called workplace violence and can happen to anyone, despite their class, gender, or age. It can be as subtle as playful shoving, or as serious as an assault.
Physical harassment also includes threats both directly and indirectly made at you, and damaging your properties to cause intimidation.
Power Harassment
Power harassment occurs between two people with different positions in the company. The bully, often the manager or a supervisor, holds a higher position than the victim and uses it to intimidate their subordinates.
Some examples of power harassment are giving the victim excessive demands that they can’t meet. Most of the time, these demands are outside the job description of the bullied worker.
Psychological
Psychological harassment causes severe mental health issues that can significantly affect your work and personal life. It’s typically just like any bullying case where the bullies isolate the victim, belittle them, discredit them, go against them in every way, and/or spread rumors about them.
Cyber
Cyberbullying is one of the most common types of harassment these days, especially as everyone is on social media.
Bullies use the internet and social media to bully the victim. They share or create humiliating things about the victim or gossip and lie about them. Bullies also send threatening messages to the victim through social media or email.
Sexual
Another big harassment issue that is prevalent even today is sexual harassment. Although the most common victims are women, men also experience sexual harassment in workplaces.
It involves unwanted sexual behavior and advances, such as sexual comments and jokes about you or inappropriate touches and gestures, among others.
Workplace harassment is prevalent even to this day. It’s up to the company itself to fix these problems. But knowing when you’re a victim is essential and can help you do appropriate actions.
